Hot!

As midday approaches fast, the outside temperatures are beginning to increase. Now that I'm in the foot hills, the sea breeze that I enjoyed yesterday has completely disappeared. What remains, is a 31 degree heat that leaves you looking to run in any shade possible. 

Getting ready to start day 2

Just a quick post to thank everyone who made a donation to St Benedict's Hospice and The Children's Foundation yesterday and today. I enjoyed reading the messages left on the justgiving sites. 

Thanks to the recovery drink CherryActive, I have no aches or pains in my legs this morning. Thanks to my Brooks Glycerin trainers I have no blisters either. Richard is currently cooking porridge in the RV and I'm raring to get stuck into day 2. Another 32 miles is the target.

I'm now setup on mobile broadband so keeping everyone updated on the run should be a lot easier from now on.

Day 1 - Photo of the day

PR Lady Shelli, Me, Publisher Stu and Richard at the start line

Day 1 - Complete

It was an excellent start to the run across the USA today (or yesterday if you're reading this in the UK). I managed a total of 32.4 miles which means I have 1.4 miles in the bag when I think about the required 31 miles a day schedule. At the end of the run, my legs felt in really good nick. I had a really good stretch and, of course, 2 servings of CherryActive. After that, I soaked my legs in iced water which was absolutely excruciating! 

Richard (aka Neil as he looks like Neil from the Young Ones) made tuna and pasta, which went down an absolute treat. After that, it was time to work on the book for a few hours. It has been a very busy day and I have it all to do again tomorrow.

PR lady Shelli leaves the team tomorrow. Her help, advice and local knowledge as well as that from her assistant Kate has been invaluable. Shelli, also did a brilliant job supporting me in the car today. She will be a huge miss on the front line team. She will, however, be running the logistical side of things from North Carolina and will be on hand for advice if we need it. She will continue to pitch the run to the US media and will join up with the team in a few weeks.

I now have wireless broadband setup so updating the blog shouldn't be as much of an issue going forwards. I was updating it using Starbucks WiFi today. The helpful staff from the popular coffee shop also filled my numerous water bottles for free too. On the condition that they could have a photo taken with me! Which was nice. On the subject of water, I've drank about 9 litres today! 

It's time for sleep now as it's almost 1am. I didn't finish running until just after 9pm. The final session of the day was so much easier in the cool evening climate. 

Tomorrow's route is undulating and tricky with lots of twists and turns but it's the shortest possible one. It's imperative that I run the required minimum mileage of 31 miles. If I have another day like today then there's no reason I shouldn't. The support vehicle from here is the RV. I'll be able to get a light pasta based meal during the run.

And on an absolutely positive note, the number of days running is now down to only double figures from triple. i.e. 100 down to 99.

Finally, if you would like to make a donation then any amount, no matter how large or small, would be gratefully received using the following links.

www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun1

(St Benedict's Hospice)

www.justgiving.com/rungeordierun2 

(The Children's Foundation)

Run Geordie Run American word…….of the day

In an attempt to expand the cultural knowledge of my readers, I've decided to add a new feature to my blog. It's what I like to call "Run Geordie Run American word…….of the day". For your reading pleasure, I will be adding new terms and phrases when I encounter them across the USA.

Today's word is "BADONKADONK". Often seen down the Bigg Market, this is the kind of word that I will never grow tired of saying. The Urban Dictionary describes it as:

"An ‘ebonic’ expression for an extremely curvaceous female behind. Women who possess this feature usually have a small waist that violently explodes into a round and juicy posterior (e.g., 34c, 24, 38). Other characteristics would be moderately wide hips and a large amount of booty cleavage (i.e, depth of butt-crack)."

I personally can't wait to use this word in earnest when I get back to the UK. For example, "Have you seen the Badonkadonks on them there lasses Billy!". Look out for more Run Geordie Run American words of the day coming soon. In the meantime, I would challenge you to use "Badonkadonk" in conversation sometime soon.

A hot and steep end to day 1 - Hacienda

Get set, Go!

It was an emotional start to the run across the USA this morning and I was very surprised and delighted to see a merry band of supporters at the start at Ruby's Diner. This was stark contrast to the start of the John O'Groats to Lands End run back in 2007 where Katy and Jack were the only people to cheer me on. I remember the weather that day too. It was lashing down and the wind was howling. Fast forward 4 years to this morning and a warm sunny backdrop of Huntington Beach.

The run got off to a good start and exiled Geordie Nick Davison kept me company for the first 4 miles. Kind of like a tug boat pulling a huge ship out of port and then out to sea. Nick, his wife Kathy and his children (pictured) were there to see me off. His friend Kevin and his family were also there. It was also great to see another exiled Geordie, Mark Richardson. 

I was very surprised to see one half of The Exiles, Alan Millen and his wife. He'd made quite a journey to be at the start line as he lives in Switzerland! Regular readers may remember that Alan together with Tim Readman wrote and recorded 2 charity songs. They are available on iTunes, of course.

I had set off into a head wind but once that left me noon came around it became like running in a furnace. Thanks to my time spent in the chamber at Northumbria it wasn't too much of a problem. What was a slight issue, however, was the time spent waiting to cross the intersections. I was waiting up to 3 minutes at certain ones!

I'm now at the half way point of day 1 and will be back out on the road in about 10 minutes. PR lady Shelli is the support driver in her car for the day and driver Richard will be meeting us at the end point in the RV later on.

What I'm very mindful of today and have taken great strength from already are the people that I'm running in memory of. Those people today are John Cowan and John Avis. Their relations Chris Cowan and Joanne Avis are getting married this weekend so I think it is a fitting tribute that the first day is dedicated to their lost loved ones.

Pictures from the start of the run across the USA

And I'm off!

Greetings from mile 8 of the run across the USA. Feeling very good. Not too hot and a nice head wind to keep me cool.

Thanks to those kind folk who have made a donation. Much appreciated.

One small step for man, one giant leap for Geordie-kind

A surprisingly good night's sleep was had in the RV last night and morale in the team is good. I'm now getting ready to start the run across the USA in a little over 2 hours time.

I'll update my blog later today as and when I can get a WIFI signal.

It's one giant step for man, one giant leap for Geordie-kind.